Whistler Blackcomb gondola set for tower phase

Whistler Blackcomb has been making significant progress on construction of the Peak to Peak Gondola since groundbreaking 14 weeks ago. Major excavation of drive terminals, tower sites, form work and concrete pouring has been achieved. The groundwork has been laid for major milestones such as the erections of towers two and three this fall.
WHISTLER, British Columbia — Whistler Blackcomb has been making significant progress on construction of the Peak to Peak Gondola since groundbreaking 14 weeks ago. Major excavation of drive terminals, tower sites, form work and concrete pouring has been achieved. The groundwork has been laid for major milestones such as the erections of towers two and three this fall.
     “With the Peak to Peak construction under way, there is a lot of excitement among the crew,” said Rick Temple, Whistler Blackcomb’s Peak to Peak project manager. “From the people at Doppelmayr/Garaventa Group in Austria to the Whistler Blackcomb team on the ground, it takes a lot of people to make a project of this magnitude come together. It’s been great to get in and get this project off the ground.”
     Deep snow presented a significant challenge at the onset; crews spent seven to 10 days on each mountain clearing snow, up to 6 meters deep in sections, from the drive terminal and tower sites. Access roads to the drive terminals and tower sites also were cleared to accommodate material delivery. With the snow cleared, services such as electrical power, sewer, water and communication lines on both mountains needed to be rerouted before construction could begin.
     Excavation at the drive terminals and tower sites on Whistler and Blackcomb has been the preliminary construction focus. Whistler’s drive terminal, just outside the Roundhouse lodge, has been excavated; form work has been completed; and concrete has been poured. Detailed excavation around tower two on Whistler has occurred in preparation for footing installation.
     On Blackcomb Mountain, 21,000 cubic meters of earth have been excavated from the drive terminal site.  Earth and rock removed at the drive terminal site have been crushed and stored on-mountain for future use. Utilizing on-site crushing techniques eliminates the need to haul crushed gravel from the valley. Form work and concrete pouring also has taken place at the drive terminal site, and the concrete footing at tower three on Blackcomb Mountain will be complete this week. Site preparation involving bulk and detailed excavation also has been accomplished at tower four on Blackcomb.
     Behind the scenes, significant planning has focused on overcoming challenges that will be faced in the second phase of construction next summer. Coordinating the delivery of five, 100-ton spools of track ropes (cable) and haul ropes has been a major focus. Transportation of the spools will be by boat from Europe to Squamish via the Panama Canal. From Squamish, the cable spools will travel by train to Whistler on special heavy-weight-bearing cars. Once in Whistler, the cable spools will be moved one by one up the mountain by specially designed transport trucks.
    With on-mountain and behind-the-scene preparation well under way, tower two and three erection will be commencing in the fall of 2007. Delivery of the steel for the towers is scheduled for Aug. 24. Taking four to five weeks each, the tubular lattice structures will be erected before phase one construction wraps in time for the winter season.   
    “Being involved in a project of this magnitude is a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” said Temple. “We’ve made some great headway this summer during phase one of construction. By the end of October, we’ll have progressed significantly, setting us up nicely to tackle phase two next spring.”